The present invention relates generally to a method of butchering an animal carcass into edible meat products and, more particularly, to a method of butchering a side of lamb into a plurality of cuts of lamb meat.
Recently, the cost involved in obtaining, feeding, raising and bringing to market an edible animal, such as a lamb, has skyrocketed. Due to the tremendous increase in cost and, assuming that only reasonable increases may be made in the market price charged to the consumer for the lamb meat products without adversely affecting consumer demand, it has become increasingly important to more skillfully butcher the lamb in order to maximize the total meat yield.
In addition to maximizing the total meat yield from a lamb, consumer tastes have become more sophisticated and the butchering methods must be changed to suit consumer tastes. Consumers are now demanding new and different ways of purchasing and preparing lamb meat products. In addition, consumers are interested in obtaining and are willing to pay for lamb meat products in a boneless or semi-boneless form which is most convenient for their needs and which includes minimal waste.
In the past, the traditional manner of butchering a lamb or a lamb side has resulted in a number of lamb products or cuts such as the rack, loin and leg which are highly desirable by the consumer and a number of other cuts which have not gained much, if any, consumer acceptance. FIG. 1 shows a typical manner of butchering a side of lamb in accordance with the traditional prior art method. In the prior art butchering method, the leg portion is typically severed from the remainder of the side, approximately at the hip joint. Thereafter, the leg portion may be sold as a leg roast, with or without removing the bones. Alternatively, the hind shank portion may be separated from the remainder of the leg and the remaining leg portion may be cut into chops or steaks. In either event, there is a fair amount of meat wasted and, if the bones are left in, the various leg cuts are very difficult to carve and result in a significant amount of meat remaining on or around the bones which is disposed of with the bones.
The remaining portion of the lamb side is divided into the short loin, rack, shoulder, foreshank, brisket and breast cuts, substantially as shown in FIG. 1. The rack and short loin cuts could then be sold either as roasts or could be sliced into chops or steaks. The shoulder either could be cut into shoulder chops or boned to form a shoulder roast. Although there is generally good consumer demand for the rack and short loin cuts, the demand for the shoulder cuts is substantially less, due to the large proportion of bone in the case of the shoulder lamb chops and due to the relatively high price in the case of a boned shoulder roast.
The foreshank and brisket cuts, as well as the upper or neck end of the shoulder cut have traditionally been treated as secondary or by-product cuts. The value of these cuts has traditionally been low and they have generally been utilized in a braised dish or stew, or have been utilized to form ground lamb patties. Although the breast cut may be utilized for barbecuing or for stuffing, it, too, has traditionally been considered a by-product cut and has been afforded little value.
The present invention comprises a method of butchering a side of lamb into a plurality of cuts of lamb which provide additional useful meat with less waste and less ground meat. The new cuts are expected to gain greater consumer acceptance than the prior art butchering methods. The method of the present invention is relatively quick and easy to utilize and results in a plurality of cuts of lamb which are both appetizing and convenient for the consumer to handle.